An Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer shot and killed a Minneapolis motorist on Wednesday during the Trump administration's latest illegal immigration crackdown on a major American city—a shooting that federal officials claimed was an act of self-defense but that the city's mayor described as "reckless" and unnecessary.
- Videos taken by bystanders and posted to social media show an officer approaching an SUV stopped across the middle of the road and trying to open the driver's side door. Seconds later, the car drives away, and a different ICE officer standing in front of the car fires at least two shots toward the driver. The SUV knocked the officer back but not down, the AP reports. The car then sped into two cars parked on a curb nearby before crashing to a stop. Witnesses screamed obscenities, expressing shock at what they'd seen.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said an officer "acted quickly and defensively ... to protect himself and the people around him." Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said the ICE agent acted recklessly. He rejected federal officials' claims that the officer had acted in self-defense. "Having seen the video myself, I wanna tell everybody directly, that is bull---," the Democratic mayor said in a press conference at City Hall. He called on ICE to "get the f--- out," the Star Tribune reports. "They are not here to cause safety in this city," he said. "What they are doing is causing chaos and distrust, They're ripping families apart. They're sowing chaos on our streets and in this case quite literally killing people."
The mayor said the woman killed was 37 years old. In a post on X, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz said: "I've seen the video. Don't believe this propaganda machine. The state will ensure there is a full, fair, and expeditious investigation to ensure accountability and justice." In a statement, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison said President Trump's "reckless decision to escalate the aggression and number of immigration agents is a causal factor," regardless of the investigation's outcome. He said that if "anyone broke the law in today's act of violence," he will do all he can to ensure they are held accountable.
Chicago experienced a similar shooting during the immigration crackdown there. In October, a Chicago woman was shot five times by a Border Patrol agent in a case involving a vehicle, though she survived. Almost immediately, Homeland Security officials issued a statement labeling Marimar Martinez, a 30-year-old teaching assistant at a Montessori school, as a "domestic terrorist" who had "ambushed" and "rammed" agents with her vehicle. She was charged in federal court with assaulting a federal officer, a felony punishable by up to 20 years in prison. But federal prosecutors were later forced to dismiss the case against Martinez before trial after security camera video and bodycam footage emerged that her defense lawyers said undermined the government's narrative.
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